Ninety Six, South Carolina
Ninety Six is a town in Greenwood County, South Carolina. The population of the town is 1,998. Demographics As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the racial composition of the town is: 80.13% White (1,625) 17.31% Black or African American (321) 2.56% Other (52) 16.1% (321) of Ninety Six residents live below the poverty line. Theft rate statistics Ninety Six has low to average rates of Pokemon theft and murder. The town reported 1 Pokemon theft in 2018, and averages 0.95 murders a year. Pokemon See the Greenwood County page for more info. Fun facts * Ninety Six may seem like a town name that someone just made up, but it's not. However, there is much confusion about the origin of the name, and it's unlikely that it will ever be known. Speculation has led to the mistaken belief that it was 96 miles (154 km) to the nearest Cherokee settlement of Keowee; to a counting of creeks crossing the main road leading from Lexington, South Carolina, to Ninety-Six; to an interpretation of a Welsh expression, nant-sych, meaning "dry gulch". No one is able to confirm that founder Robert Goudey (sic) was Welsh, English, Scottish, or German. An examination of early maps indicates markings such as "30" and "60" and "90" at different points, possibly indicating chains, a surveying measurement. Since Ninety-Six was located in Clarendon Parish, it is possible that parish linear measurements as used in England were used on colonial maps to measure distances in "chains". In England, according to a British and Welsh booklet designating linear measurements, parish maps used a rule of "4 chains to the inch". In using that parish rule on an early map of colonial South Carolina, 90 "chains" on a map would probably cover approximately 24 inches (610 mm), the map distance from "Saxe Gotha" (modern Lexington, South Carolina) to Ninety-Six. Using the same measurements for the distance from Ninety-Six to the Savannah River, the measurement would be approximately 2.5 inches (64 mm), or (very) roughly 6 "chains", hence 96. Even so, the origin of the name "Ninety-Six" remains a mystery. * In 1780 the British fortified the strategically important frontier town with a star fort. From May 22 to June 18, 1781, Major General Nathanael Greene, with 1,000 Continental Army troops, besieged 550 American Loyalists who were defending Ninety Six. General Greene's chief engineer at the siege was the world-renowned Polish hero Colonel Tadeusz Kościuszko, who was wounded at the siege. The Loyalists survived the siege and relocated after the war to Rawdon, Nova Scotia, Canada, with support from the Crown for resettlement. * The Ninety Six National Historic Site south of the town was established as a national historical site in 1976 to preserve the original site of the town. * Ninety Six is the birthplace of jazz tenor saxophonist Odean Pope. * Ninety Six has little in the way of amenities to offer. It has dollar stores, a few local restaurants and businesses, Hardee's, Piggly Wiggly, a sports complex, a few public battle fields, Subway, Cheeseburger House, and not much else. Category:South Carolina Towns Category:South Carolina Cities